Why Central Garden & Pet (CENT) Stock Is Higher in Pre-Market Today

Central Garden & Pet (CENT) stock is up in pre-market trading after Harbinger Group (HRG) made a bid for the company at $10 per share.

NEW YORK (TheStreet) -- Shares of retailer, Central Garden & Pet Co. (CENT) are up 11.11% to $10.00 after private equity firm Harbinger Group (HRG) offered to acquire the company for $10 per share, or $1.1 billion including assumption of debt.

Harbinger, which is one of Central's largest shareholders, also offered to buy its pet business for $750 million.

On June 9, the private equity firm had sent a public letter to Central's board in which it requested a meeting and urged the company to consider selling itself to Harbinger.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates CENTRAL GARDEN & PET CO as a Hold with a ratings score of C. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate CENTRAL GARDEN & PET CO (CENT) a HOLD. The primary factors that have impacted our rating are mixed, some indicating strength, some showing weaknesses, with little evidence to justify the expectation of either a positive or negative performance for this stock relative to most other stocks. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, good cash flow from operations and increase in stock price during the past year. However, as a counter to these strengths, we also find weaknesses including deteriorating net income, disappointing return on equity and poor profit margins."